• Swaraj started her political career with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in 1970. After the emergency, she joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Later, she became a national leader of the BJP.
• She was a member of the Haryana Legislative Assembly from 1977 to 1982.
• In July 1977, she was sworn in as a Cabinet Minister in the Janata Party Government headed by the then Harayana Chief Minister, Chaudhary Devi Lal.
• She was appointed as the State President of the Janata Party (Haryana) in 1979 when she was only 27 years old.
• She was the Education Minister of Haryana in the BJP–Lok Dal coalition government from 1987 to 1990.
• In April 1990, she was elected as a member of the Rajya Sabha.
• In 1996, she was appointed as the Union Cabinet Minister for Information and Broadcasting during the 13-day government of PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
• In 1998, she became the first woman Chief Minister of Delhi.
• In 1999, she became the Union Cabinet Minister for Information and Broadcasting with the additional charge of the Ministry of Telecommunications from 19 March 1998 to 12 October 1998.
• She was the Union Cabinet Minister for Information and Broadcasting, a position she held from September 2000 to January 2003.
• She was appointed as the Minister of Health, Family Welfare and Parliamentary Affairs from January 2003 to May 2004.
• She served as the Deputy Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha until April 2009.
• She won the 2009 General Elections election from the Vidisha Lok Sabha Constituency in Madhya Pradesh. She had the highest winning margin of over 4,00,000 votes. Sushma Swaraj became the Leader of Opposition in the 15th Lok Sabha.
• Swaraj served as the Minister of External Affairs in Narendra Modi's Cabinet from May 2014 to May 2019.
• In 2019, she quit politics to recover from her kidney transplant and had also stated that due to her health, she will not contest the 2019 General Elections or will continue as the MEA of India.

Awards, Honours, Achievements

• Best Speaker Award in the Harayana Assembly.
• In 2004, she became the only female MP to receive the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award.
• On 24 July 2017, a US-based newspaper, the Wall Street Journal, termed Sushma Swaraj as India's Most Loved Politician.
• On 19 February 2019, the Spanish Government honoured her with the "Grand Cross of Order of Civil Merit". She was presented with this order for her help and support during the evacuation of 71 Spanish citizens during the Nepal earthquake in 2015.

• B.A. with majors in Sanskrit and Political Science from the Sanatan Dharma College, Ambala Cantonment, Haryana
• Bachelor of Laws from Panjab University, Chandigarh

Religion

Hinduism

Caste

Brahmin

Food Habit

Vegetarian

Address

Dhawan Deep Building, Janpath, New Delhi

Hobbies

Performing Fine Arts, Writing Poetry, Singing

Controversies

• In 2011, videos of her dancing at the Mahatma Gandhi memorial during a protest at Rajghat went viral. She was criticized for this. Swaraj defended herself by saying that she was dancing to patriotic songs; to boost the morale of the protestors.
• In October 2014, she expressed her request to announce the Bhagwad Gita as the national scripture of India. She was criticized for this statement by the TMC and the Congress.
• In May 2015, she was criticized for losing her cool and replying angrily on Twitter. A user claimed that she did favours to get her daughter admitted to a medical college. She replied that her daughter was a lawyer and not in the medical profession.
• In June 2015, Sushma Swaraj was criticized when she admitted to helping Lalit Modi. Lalit was in London, and he had applied to go to Portugal for the treatment of his wife. Britain sent an application to India and enquired whether they should clear his visa or not. As Sushma Swaraj was the MEA, she approved Lalit Modi's visa on humanitarian grounds.

Some Lesser Known Facts About Sushma Swaraj

Sushma Swaraj was a prominent Indian politician. She had served on many important ministerial positions during her career. She was India’s most prominent Minister of External Affairs. Sushma Swaraj passed away on 6 August 2019 in AIIMS, New Delhi.

She was born into a modest family in Ambala.

Sushma Swaraj (front) in Her Childhood

Her parents hailed from Dharampura area of Lahore, Pakistan. They immigrated to India after the partition.

She was highly influenced by Socialism in India, and her ideology got stronger when she met her husband, Swaraj Kaushal.

Sushma Swaraj with her Husband Swaraj Kaushal

At the age of 25, she became the youngest Cabinet Minister of an Indian state (Haryana) under the then Haryana Chief Minister, Chaudhary Devi Lal.

Sushma Swaraj With Devi Lal After Taking Oath As The Haryana’s Education Minister

In 1998, she assumed the office of the Chief Minister of Delhi, but, her tenure ended in just 52 days. She was the first woman Chief Minister of Delhi.

Sushma Swaraj Being Sworn In As The Delhi CM

In the 1999 Lok Sabha elections, Swaraj contested against Sonia Gandhi from Bellary, Karnataka, but, she lost. During the 2004 General Elections, when the Congress was set to form the government, an emotionally charged Swaraj threatened that if an Italian born Sonia became the Prime Minister of India, she would shave her hair, wear white sarees and would only eat groundnut.

From 19 March 1998 to 12 October 1998, she handled the Information and Broadcasting Ministry with the additional charge of the Ministry of Telecommunications in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government.

Sushma Swaraj With Atal Bihari Vajpayee

During her tenure as the I&B Minister, she had declared the film production as an industry. It enabled the Indian film industry to be eligible for bank loans. Earlier, films used to be financed by the underworld. This decision liberated the film industry from the clutches of the underworld.

She was the Union health Minister from January 2003 to May 2004. She had established six new AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) at Bhopal (MP), Bhubaneshwar (Odisha), Jodhpur (Rajasthan), Patna (Bihar), Raipur (Chhattisgarh), and Rishikesh (Uttrakhand).

In the 2009 General Elections, Sushma Swaraj was elected as an MP from the Vidisha Lok Sabha Constituency of Madhya Pradesh. It was a huge win as she had won by the maximum winning margin of over 4 Lac votes. She was appointed as the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha. It made her the first female Leader of the Opposition in the history of India.

Sushma Swaraj Speaking in the Lok Sabha

In May 2014, she was appointed as the Minister of External Affairs in the Narendra Modi Government.

She played an important role in implementing the foreign policy of the Narendra Modi Government. She won the hearts of many for her compassionate and easy to approach behaviour. Many a time, she responded instantly on Twitter to anyone who would ask for her help. It got her praises from all over the world; due to the quick responses and her effective and efficient style of working.

As of July 2019, she was the most followed woman politician on Twitter with over 13.2 million followers.

Sushma Swaraj is the Most Followed Woman Leader on Twitter

In 2019, she did not contest the General Elections, nor did she continue her post as the Minister of External Affairs. She stated that she was recovering from her kidney transplant surgery, and she wanted some time for her health.

On 6 August 2019, she had a cardiac arrest at her residence in Delhi. She was rushed to the emergency ward of AIIMS New Delhi at 9:30 PM. The doctors attended to her and tried to revive her, but, she passed away at 10:50 PM.

Several politicians and cabinet ministers rushed to AIIMS after hearing the news.

Sushma Swaraj’s Body At Her Delhi Residence

On 7 August 2019, her mortal remains were brought to her residence in New Delhi. Several political leaders visited to pay their last respects to her. The President of India Ram Nath Kovind, Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi, and many more visited Sushma Swaraj’s residence.

Thereafter, her body was taken to the BJP headquarters at noon for the BJP workers and the leaders across the party lines to come and pay their last respects.

Sushma Swaraj’s Body at BJP Headquarters

Her funeral took place in the Lodhi Crematorium with full state honours.